Profitability

Farmers across the country are realizing just how important it is to provide shade for their animals. But don’t take our word for it! Hear what the experts are saying about the importance of shade for cow health and for your bottom line:

“During the 47 days of the study, a difference of 0.47 lbs/day in weight gain was observed in the heifers that had shade in their pens, versus heifers in pens without shade.” [Results of study conducted from July 17 to September 2, 2017 by North Florida Research and Education Center Beef Research Unit]

How do cattle get heat stressed?

“Farm animals have well known zones of thermal comfort (ZTC). The range of ZTC is primarily dependent on the species, the physiological status of the animals, the relative humidity and velocity of ambient air, and the degree of solar radiation.”

“The degree of heat stress on dairy cattle has been measured by the temperature humidity index (THI), developed over 50 years ago and originally showed that dairy cattle become stressed at a THI of 72.”

-From “Want to double pregnancies during heat stress and increase the number of heifers born?” Todd Bilby, PhD. Western Dairy News and Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension. September 2010. Vol. 10, No. 8.

“Although THI has been effectively used as an indicator of heat stress, adjustment of the THI for WSPD [wind speed] and RAD [solar radiation] should enhance its usefulness. Solar radiation can greatly influence heat load, whereas changes in wind speed result in altered convective cooling.”

Heat stress impacts conception and pregnancy rates.

“Fertility decline is a combination of many factors […], and environmental factors such as heat stress.

-From “Want to double pregnancies during heat stress and increase the number of heifers born?” Todd Bilby, PhD. Western Dairy News and Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension. September 2010. Vol. 10, No. 8.

“Some data indicate that only 10 to 20 percent of inseminations in ‘heat stressed’ cows result in pregnancies.”